On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Archie Williams boys varsity water polo team played the Redwood High School Giants at the Archie Williams pool. The high-stakes game was extremely competitive, as the Falcons had fallen to the Giants in the MCAL finals in both 2022 and 2023. However, Archie Williams secured the 2024 Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) championship title with an 11-8 victory.
To open the first quarter, the Falcons swiftly won the sprint, putting them in possession of the ball. Less than a minute later, 2023 MCAL player of the year Jacob Carrera scored the game’s first point, giving Archie a 1-0 lead. Following that, Falcons attacker Nolan Anderson scored the second goal of the game, shifting the score to 2-0.
A rebounded shot from the Falcons gave the Giants the opportunity to score their first point, increasing the score to 2-1. Soon after, Jacob scored his second goal of the game, increasing Archie Williams’ lead to 3-1. Another two shots from the Redwood Giants tied the game 3-3.
A cross from Falcons defender Max Guana resulted in a goal from senior Hayden Long in order to regain Archie Williams’ lead. The first quarter ended shortly after with a score of 4-3. Hayden believes teamwork is Archie Williams water polo’s greatest strength.
“We all stayed focused during practice, but outside of the pool, we all bonded together. We shared our moments and we all became close with each other,” said senior Hayden Long.
To begin the second quarter, Archie Williams won the sprint again while Redwood pushed back to defend their goal. After a turnover, Redwood scored to tie the game back up 4-4. The Falcons took the lead again after a goal from center Nate Greenberg. Redwood then scored two back-to-back shots, giving them their first lead of the game with a score of 6-5.
“Our defense led us to some turnovers, which gave us easy scoring opportunities as well as keeping the other team’s score down,”said head coach Steve Carrera.
In the third quarter of the game, the Falcons again won the sprint, their aggressive approach towards the goal bringing them another score by Hayden. Archie Williams goalie Josh Dixon deflected all of Redwood’s many shot attempts in the third quarter.
Jacob scored his third goal of the game, putting the Falcons back in the lead at 7-6. Redwood fought back with another goal, tying the game up at 7-7. Quickly after Redwood’s goal, Jake scored his fourth goal for Archie, regaining their lead at 8-7 as the third quarter came to an end.
To open the last quarter of the game, the Falcons won the fourth and final sprint. Back-to-back goals from center defender Hayden put the Falcons far ahead of Redwood at 10-7. Redwood secured a penalty shot on goal and shifted the score to 10-8. Jake scored his fifth goal of the game and minutes after, the buzzer rang, Archie Williams officially winning the MCAL championship.
“We’ve met Redwood in this game the past four years in a row. Losing to them the last two years and then winning this year is really going to give us a confidence boost [going] into our NCS games,” Josh said.
Following their first MCAL win in three years, the Falcons are now turning their attention to their upcoming North Coast Section (NCS) game on November 9th. They will compete against other teams in Northern California, aiming to progress as far as possible towards winning the NCS league.
